Lifetime Politicians
Elitists Welcome
Our country’s elite should run our government.
December 29, 2008 | Read More
Change We Can’t Believe In: Career Politicians And Partisan Hacks Won Big This November
A detailed study of election returns from every House race in the country shows this supposedly transformative election was anything but.
December 3, 2008 | Read More
Gerrymandered Gridlock
Democrats have guaranteed themselves ironclad majorities in California–and endless gridlock in state government.
November 25, 2008 | Read More
The Biden Dynasty Begins (After A Small Detour)
One of Joe Biden’s closest aides will take his Senate seat just long enough to keep it warm for Biden’s son, Beau.
November 24, 2008 | Read More
Legalized Vote-Buying Won’t End Anytime Soon
Last year, members of Congress bribed their local constituents with over $17 billion in “special” projects. And neither party is in any hurry to break the practice.
November 24, 2008 | Read More
The Worst Government Money Can Buy
A new study shows that our rough calculation of a 90% incumbent success rate this year was too optimistic. The real number is 95%. How do they do it? Cold, hard cash.
November 13, 2008 | Read More
Bloomberg’s Term Limit Scam Hits A Snag
Michael Bloomberg and the other would-be career incumbents in New York are trying to undo term-limits. But their quest has hit a snag in the form of the city’s campaign finance rules. What are they going to do? Why, change the laws again, of course. Why not? They’re already working to contravene the will of the people on term limits, why not rewrite the campaign finance laws, too? Once you start letting politicians make their own rules, you might as well grant them all permanent rights to their seats.
October 14, 2008 | Read More
Alaskan King, Crabby
Alaska’s been in the news a lot lately thanks to Sarah Palin. But the “Pitbull with Lipstick” V.P. candidate has overshadowed another big Alaska story: the ongoing corruption trial of senate lifer Ted Stevens.
October 2, 2008 | Read More
Reason #9: Ballot Box Bullies Boxing out the Little Guy
Unfortunately, politicians from the D.O.P.es – our two “Dead Old Parties” – don’t just control the shape of the electoral map. They also hold the keys to the most important place in our democracy – the ballot box. Republicans and Democrats in state legislatures all across the country make the rules for who qualifies to be on the ballot. And, as you’d expect, they only make it easy for … Democrats and Republicans. If you aren’t a candidate nominated for office by the D.O.P.es, just getting your name or the name of your political party on voting sheets is like winning…
August 12, 2008 | Read More
Reason #8: “Gerry-rigged” Congressional Districts and Invincible Incumbents
“If our government is so broken and our politicians are so greedy and corrupt,” you might ask, “why don’t we just vote them out of office and get people in there who can make things better?”
If only it were that easy. It’s damn near impossible to get rid of lifetime politicians, especially because they actually get to choose who votes for them. That’s right. You thought it was us, the voters, who got to choose them, the politicians. But in reality, as the columnist John Fund once wrote, the politicians get to choose us, as in which voters get to…
August 12, 2008 | Read More
